Mechanism for automatic control of refrigeration.



No. 7l2,86|.,' P'afented NoyQ4, I902.

c. n. swam). MECHANISM AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF REFRIGERATION.

(Application filed Dec. 28, IBQL) (No Model.) 2 Sh'eats.-SheotWitnesses. I Invent o7} 'xwm I 676w? AJU WMQ TH. annals 921015 c0'wo'rd-umo" wuummu, a. 04

2 Sheets-$heet 2 No. 7l2,86|. Patented Nov. .4, I902.

C. D. SWORD. MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC CGNTROL 0F REFRIGERATION.

(Application filed Dec. 23, 1901.)

(No Model.)

m'fnesses,

UNITED STAT S f AmENT OFFIC PATRICK C. SHEEHAN, TRUSTEE, OF

CONNEAUTVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF REFRIGERATION- SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 712,861, dated November 4, 1902. Applicationfiled December 23,1901. serial No. 86,898. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

7 Be it known that I, CHARLES D.'Sw0RD,a citizen of the United States,residing at Gonneautville, in the county of Crawford andStateofPennsylvania,haveinventedacertain new and useful Improvement inMechanism for the Automatic Control of Refrigeration, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and eX-. act description, reference beinghad to them,

10 companying drawings.

This invention is an improvement in the art of artificial refrigeration,the object being to automatically maintain substantially uniformtemperature in a boX or compartment [5 being artificially refrigerated.j

The invention resides in a novel eXpansion-.

valve and its thermostatic operating mechan ism, which valve is locatedbetween the highpressure pipes and the expansion-coils, the

thermostat being located in the compartment to be refrigerated, wherebythe valve will be opened or closed, as circumstances require,

to maintain the substantial uniformity of temperature desired in saidcompartment wholly independently of the pressure in the pipes on eitheror both sides of said eXpan-; sion-valve, all as hereinafter clearly setforth, and definitely specified in the claims. In the drawings,'Figure'l is abroadly-dia-i o grainmatic view of a compartment to be re-:frigerated, the expansion-coils therein, the expansion-Valve, and itsautomatic operating; mechanism located in said compartment in; properrelation to theexpansion-coils and the 5 high-pressure pipe. Fig. 2 is avertical sec-} tional View of the valve and its operating mechanism.Fig. 3 is an end view thereof, and Fig. 4. is a sectional view on line 44: of

Referring to the parts by letters, H repre-, sents the compartment whosecontentswa-' ter, air, or fiuidthe mechanism shown is designed torefrigerate and maintain at substantially uniform temperature. Arepresents the expansion-coils located in said compartment and designedto cool the same.

B represents the high-pressure pipe from which the volatile liquid-as,for example, anhydrous ammonia is discharged into the expansion-coilsthrough the expansion valve,

which is connected in the system of circu- 'in the valve-casing into arecess 6 'cess, which is closed, as by a cap e may be 80 lation betweenthe high-pressure pipe and said expansion-coils and is located in saidcompartment H. The inlet-port e of the valve-casing E is connected withthe high- 'pressure pipe B and the outlet-port c with the low-pressurepipe or expansion -c0ils A. The inlet and outlet ports are separated bya partition ei'through which is a suitable opening by means of whichcommunication is established between the opposite sides thereof. A rodG, which passes through the outer wall of the valve-casing and through astuffing-b0219 secured therein, crosses the inlet-port e and screwsthrough the partition e projecting into the outlet-port a. By meansofthe threaded engagement of this rod with the partition e thisvalve-rod may be adjusted toward or from the cooperating seat n on theopposite valve N. A passage 9 extends longitudinally through this rod Gfrom its inner end to a point where it is intersected by a transversepassage 9 whose outer ends communicate with the inlet-port.

The valve N has, preferably, a flat soft-metal seat-on its upper end,and this valve is located in axial alinement with the rod G, and itsopposite end or stem extends through a hole This refilled with mineraloil or other-suitable fluid, so as to seal the opening through whichthis valve-stem passes. On the lower end of the valve N is a cross-headn, lying and operating in the recess 6 A crank-pin p, which is securedto the inner end of a shaft P, rotatably mounted in the valve-casing andprojecting into the recess 6 lies beneath this cross-head "and may whenthe shaft is turned raise it and move the valve N toward the seat on theend 0 of the rod G, thereby restricting the size of and ultimatelyclosing the discharge end of the passageway in said rod G, through whichthe refrigerating medium must pass from the high-pressure pipe into thelow-pressure pipe or expansion-coils A. Thisshaft P projects outside ofthe valve-casing, and the opening through which it so projects is alsosealed by the oil in the recess a. On the projecting end of the shaft Pa sleeve R is loosely mounted, this sleeve having an inwardly-projectingtooth 7", adapted to be engaged by an outwardly-projecting tooth 19',secured to the shaft.

S represents a thermostat, which in the construction shown consists of acoil of wire of suitable'dimensious to conform with the requirements ofthe apparatus. One end of this thermostatic coil is fastened to thesleeve R by means of a screw or otherwise, while the other end of saidthermostatic coil is adjustably fixed to a stationary supportas, forexam ple,t he valve-caseby suitable meansas, for example, theclamping-screw 6 The described parts are so arranged that as thethermostat contracts under the influence of lowering temperature it willrotate the sleeve R, which, through the engagement of the teeth 1' and1), will turn the shaft P in that direction which will cause thecrank-pin 1) to engage with the cross-head n and lift the valve N,thereby carrying its seat a toward and into contact with the seat on thelower end of the rod G, thereby closing the passage 9. An adjustablestop 'I is provided for limiting the possible downward movement of thevalve N from the end of the rod G. In the form shown this is a screw orthread having a tapered end 25 passing beneath the cross end at. Byscrewing this device in the possible downward movement of the valve N isrestricted.

In applying this valve to any refrigerating apparatus it is necessary toadjust the positions of the rod G and this adjustable stop T relative tothe valve N so that the maximum flow of the fluid through thepassage-way 9 when the valve N is moved down to its limit shall beproportionate to the capacity of the pump or other mechanism forcing thefluid through the high-pressure pipe. These adjustments being made, thethermostatic coil is connected with the valve-casing at the proper pointin its length, so that when the temperature in the compartment is at thedesired low temperature the length of the thermostatic coil will havebeen sufficiently reduced to effect, through the described intermediatemechanism, to a practical closure of the valvethat is to say, of thedischarge end of the passage g. When the adjustments above referred toare effected, the operation of the valve by its thermostat is entirelyautomatic and entirely independent of the pressure or relations betweenthe pressures on the high and low pressure sides thereof.

The mode of operation is substantially as follows: When the temperatureof the atmosphere in the compartment being cooled has very nearlyreached the proper temperature, the valve-rod N begins its movementtoward the valve-seat, thereby restricting the flow of the refrigeratingmedium into the expansion-coils.

era-tion, and therefore a greater degree of vacuum is produced in saidexpansion-coils, thereby rapidly cooling the pipes, especially The pumpcontinues its opnear the valve-casing. This quickly cools thesurrounding atmosphere,and the effect of this local cooling is felt bythe thermostat, which thereupon contracts more rapidly, having theimmediate final effect on the valve of entirely closing the same. Thislocal cooling near the valve, before referred to, is ultimatelydistributed by the circulation of the air within the compartment. Theresulting temperature of said air is substantially that which it isdesired to maintain. The flow of the refrigerant being entirely shutolf, as explained, the temperature of the air or fluid in thecompartment will very soon begin slowly to rise. When it rises above thedesired temperature, the thermostat expands and permits the opening ofthe valve, with the result that the liquid-refrigerating medium passesthe valve and is vaporized, thereby reducing the temperature of thepipes and of the surrounding air or fluid. The described action of theseparts repeats as often as is necessary to maintain the substantialuniformity of temperature in the compartment, the action of thedescribed mechanism being automatic and wholly independent ofdifferences in the pressure on opposite sides of the valve.

The particular thermostat employed and its connection with the operatingmechanism of the valve is especially suitable for this apparatus, for ifwhen the valve is closed there is further contraction of thethermostatic coil it results onlyin putting the coil undergreatertension without injuring any part of the mechanism; so the expansion ofthe thermostatic coil has no positive efiect upon the movement of' thevalve. It simply allows it to open, and therefore, although thethermostat may expand very much, it has no injurious effect upon thedescribed mechanism.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a refrigerating apparatus,a valvecasing containing an inlet and an outlet port separated by apartition, a rod adjustable through said partition and containing apassage-way connecting said two ports, a movable valve-rod adapted toclose the end of said passage-way, a rotatable shaft, a thermostaticcoil operatively connected at one end to said shaft and at the other endto a stationary support, and mechanism whereby the shaft in turningoperates said valve-rod, substantially as specified.

2. In a refrigerating apparatus, a valvecasing containing an inlet andan outlet port separated by a partition, a rod adjustable through saidpartition and containing a passage-way connecting said two ports, amovable valve-rod adapted to close the end of said passage-Way, arotatable shaft, mechanism whereby the turning of the shaft operates thevalve-rod, a collar loosely mounted upon the shaft having a toothadapted to engage with a tooth fixed to the shaft, and a thermostaticcoil connected at one end with said collar and adj ustably connected atthe other end to a fixed support, substantially as speci- 3. In arefrigerating apparatus, a valvecasing, containing an inlet and anoutlet port separated by a partition, a rod adjustable through saidpartition and containing a passage-way connecting said two ports, amovable valve-rod adapted to close the end of said passage-way, across-head on the end of said valve-rod, a rotatable shaft, a crank-pinsecured thereto and adapted to engage with said cross-head, athermostatic coil operatively connected at one end with said shaft andat the other end to a fixed support, substantially as specified.

4. In a refrigerating apparatus, a valvecasing containing an inlet andan outlet port separated by a partition, a rod adjustable through saidpartition and containing a passage-way connecting said two ports, amovable valve-rod adapted to close the end of said passage-way, saidcasing containing a recess into which the rear end of said valverodprojects, a shaft rotatably mounted in the valve-casing and having oneend projecting into the same recess, a sealing fluid in said recess, athermostat operatively connected with said shaft and adapted to turn thesame, and mechanism whereby the turning of said shaft operates thevalve-rod, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

CHARLES D. SWORD. Witnesses:

H. T. WESTON, E. G. MCKAY.

